Harry, I've Reached The Top!

Honestly, if you don't get the reference, are we really even friends? (It's from the greatest movie ever created, Home Alone 2, for any of you who had deprived childhoods.)

Each big city has their famous icon. NYC has the Empire State building, San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge, Paris has the Eiffel Tour, Rome has the Coliseum. And then there's Rio. Rio has so many famous icons. The most popular, of course, is the Christ Statue, but then there's the Sugarloaf and Copacabana. There's also Dois Irmãos which, I'll admit, wouldn't have recognized before moving. (I may or may not have identified it as the Sugarloaf when I was here during student teaching.)

Dois Irmãos is between the beaches of Leblon and São Conrado and frequently stars in many/ all of my sunset pictures. I had to conquer it. In the end, I think it conquered me. 

We'd been saying that we were going to hike each weekend for about six weekends and just never did. Since the student teachers are quickly nearing the end of their time here in Rio, we've really been packing the weekends full. 

We made the mistake of starting our hike around 10:30-11am on a 90° day during almost summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I also totally psyched myself out because I didn't want to lag behind or hold up the group or die or anything else highly embarrassing. So I took a moto-taxi ride through Vidigal up to the beginning of the actual trail. And it was awesome; I so missed riding on the back of a motorcycle. 

That's not to say that I didn't complain A LOT the last 30 minutes of actual trail hiking because that totally happened. But the views were beautiful. Rocked my typical Caitlin pose, as per usual. And yes, definitely exclaimed "Harry, I've reached the top". 

While hiking back down the mountain, we found a family of little monkeys and then I held one. Clearly, I cannot control my facial expressions. 

Dois Irmãos-- you were lovely, but I can't say that we'll ever meet again.

Getting Boozy in Búzios

Another three day weekend means another South American adventure. Such is life when you live in Rio de Janeiro.

This time we headed slightly north to Búzios-- another beautiful beach town. I'd never been before, but the beach just calls to me, so off we went!

Transportation can sometimes be a struggle in this country. Partly because we're all so used to having our own cars to take us where we want to go while we're in the States, and partly because we don't speak Portuguese thus making public transportation a real treat. As far as we could tell, there wasn't any sort of Easy Transfer-esque service to Búzios, so we used the 1001 bus company. We left from Rodoviaria in downtown-ish Rio on Saturday morning and arrived at the Búzios bus station a few hours later. Despite not being Easy Transfer, it was quite easy.

Praia João Fernandes-- our home beach

Búzios is a beautiful city. Beautiful. It's not as small as Ilha Grande, especially because cars are permitted, but it definitely doesn't have the hustle and bustle of Rio. We had beach views basically everywhere we went and I loved it. We also really lucked out with the weather and had three gorgeous days even though we were forecasted to have three yucky, rainy days. Thank you Google Weather app for consistently being wrong. 

When we arrived on Saturday we headed straight to the beach. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. A nice little perk of life in Búzios is that the vendors on the beach will let you use their chairs for free, you just have to buy drinks from them. Since our theme of the weekend was "Getting Boozy in Búzios", this was a pretty sweet deal. I had more lime caipirinhas this weekend than I have had in my entire existence in Rio. Really. 

Caipirinha Count for the weekend? 6ish.

Unfortunately, in our haste to soak up some rays, we didn't make it into downtown until later Saturday evening. This meant that most of the tour companies were closed and we had a pretty tough time finding a tour for the following day. We did stumble across one open agency and their tour didn't look bad, so we booked with them. 

We boarded the boat the following day, all ready for some more maritime adventures. We were promised 12 beaches and 3 islands. Which is kind of misleading because then they tell you that you're only stopping at three of the places and just passing the others. We started off on our three hour tour and, unfortunately, almost had as much luck as Gilligan and friends. Stop number one went off without a hitch. Stop number 2 was great until we realized that we'd been bobbing around for quite some time. In our really great Portuguese, we found out that the boat had broken down. Cora, Erin, and I didn't really mind because if we hadn't been laying on the boat getting tan, we would have been laying on the beach getting tan. We also weren't barfing our brains out like many of our traveling companions. Once the boat finally started working, the captain just took us all back to shore and that was the end of our tour. Whomp, whomp. Moral of that story? Book tours early in the day THEN lay in the sun. And always take motion sickness medicine when you're going to be on a boat.

#shamelessselfies #gringadiaries

Group photos are never our strong point. 

We thought Monday was going to be too overcast for a good beach day, so we turned it into a shopping day. Again, Google Weather was wrong and we all fried, so thanks for that. I was able to throw away my money on things that I had to have. And did spot this big guy, so all was not lost.

Fin. Noggin. Duuuude.

We came, we saw, we got boozy in Búzios. 

To Have Another Language Is To Possess A Second Soul.

Listen. Learning languages is tough. Like, sometimes I kind of want to roll over and die because my brain is a constant jumble of words in English and Portuguese and Spanish and because 99% of my time speaking Portuguese is spent focusing way too freaking hard on making sounds that I cannot physically make.

Grammar and sentence structure is similar in Portuguese and Spanish which is a huge help, and a large handful of vocabulary is similar. But that's where the similarities stop. Don't let anyone fool you into believing that if you know Spanish, you'll be able to fully understand Portuguese. It's a flat out lie. Especially here in Rio where the accent is INCREDIBLY different from Spanish.

Between English and Spanish and Portuguese, I feel like brain is constantly "ON". And, honestly, not making a ton of sense of anything. I'm exhausted ALL the time. And while I can blame part of that on late night reading in bed, a lot of it is due to always trying to listen and understand and translate and think of a response and translate and repeat. Conversations take a LONG time. 

All day, every day.

Not only am I constantly having to really work at having conversations, but the world around me is in Portuguese. Leaving my house means coming in contact with Portuguese. Going shopping (especially trying on clothes)? Better believe I have to talk to someone in Portuguese. Dinner and drinks after a week at school? Good luck ordering that food if you don't speak Portuguese. Want to get your haircut? Want to get your nails done? Think if its actually worth the time and effort. I am fully capable of doing those things (and doing them well!) in English and Spanish, but literally every single this is more difficult here because I don't speak the language. 

My brain is constantly on. Constantly. And it's tired.

In order to give my tired brain a break, I decided to start taking Portuguese lessons. Which, honestly, is something that I should have done a long time ago. But I didn't and here we are now. I've officially had three classes and am really good at saying things like "calma, relaxe, sem estresse" (calm down, relax, without stress). It's obviously a process, I'm not going to be fluent in just three lessons. Eventually it'll get easier and my brain can relaxe.

I must say, that even after only two lessons, it was awesome to go out to dinner and have a "conversation" with the waiter. The waiter who unknowingly followed the exact script that we learned during my first lesson. Thank you, friendly waiter.

By conversation, I mean the following:

"Boa noite. Meu nome é Antonio. É o seu?"

"Meu nome é Caitlin. Muito prazer."

"Igualmente."

And then I reverted to pointing at then menu to ask for what I wanted to eat. In my defense, it was really freaking loud in the restaurant and I was seated far away from where he was standing to take my order. Baby steps, ladies and gentlemen.

Also, this is how I feel 100% of the time when talking to people who say that I should be fluent in Portuguese because I speak Spanish. Preach it, Batman.

Life Is Like Riding A Bicycle

... in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Kelly, my roommate, and I were feeling a little cabin fever-ish over the weekend, so we decided to get out and explore Rio in a different way-- by bike. 

So on Saturday we packed up our bike baskets with typical bike riding goodies such as water and a GoPro and headed to the nearest gas station because I needed air in both of my tires. We arrived at the gas station and were quite unsuccessful in inflating the tires. After (what felt like an eternity) of struggling, a gas station attendant came over to help us. He was also unsuccessful and sent us to the next closest gas station. 

Do you realize how hard it is to ride a bike with two flat tires? Rather difficult. Do you know how hard it is to ask the gas station attendant for help inflating your bike tires in Portuguese? Rather difficult and involving a lot of charades. 

So, phew. We're finally all set to go and continue to ride around the Lagoa. All 10.8 kilometers. It was awesome.

On Sundays, one lane of the road is closed along the beach in Leblon/ Ipanema/ Copacabana for people to walk and bike ride and long board and roller skate. For whatever reason, bike riding along Avenida Atlantica has been on my bucket list for forever.

Since we had bicycles, we decided to carpe diem and go on a long bike ride on Sunday. All 13.3 kilometers. It was also awesome, but slightly more painful than Saturday's bike ride.

We also had to ride in the street as opposed to the bike lane a couple of times because Kelly and I can't follow directions. Traffic in Rio is a little... wild and my bike control isn't the best. I may or may not have given myself blisters on my hands from gripping the handlebars so tightly in fear of riding right into a bus. A fear that never came to fruition, thank goodness, but the fear was real.

So Rio, so Carioca. So sore, so fun. 

Caitlin's Quarter Quell

If you know anything about The Hunger Games (which you should), you know that every twenty five year, Panam participates in the Quarter Quell. Games which are more intense, and with more surprises, than the games of years past.

I recently celebrated my very own Quarter Quell (AKA, I turned 25 years old). And, in true Quarter Quell fashion, it was more intense than in years past. I mean, hello, I was in Rio de Janeiro, for crying out loud.

Not only was it celebrated in Rio de Janeiro (and effectively allowing me to say I have celebrated my birthday in North, Central, and South America), it was spent with this beauty.

One of my dearest and closest friends from high school. We've been friends for TEN YEARS now-- I had just finished my freshman year when we celebrated our first birthday together. Who would have guessed that 7th grade her and 9th grade me would both grow up to be teachers at bilingual schools and then celebrate our birthday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil? Seriously. Life is crazy and awesome and I'm so blessed to have friends like her along for the ride.

My Quarter Quell was also celebrated with some of the very best people in Rio. When living far from family and friends, it's important to find people you can count on. If you ask me, I've found some of the best.

And in true cafe com leite (literally "coffee with milk", but code for "lame person") fashion, I was in bed by 9pm. 

Here's to another year. To the laughter and to the tears, to the days at the beach and the nights/ early evenings at the bars. Here's to all of the moments that make up a beautiful year, which in turn, make a beautiful life.

Spring Break Part 1/2: Adventure is Out There in Ilha Grande

After days and days of waiting, it finally arrived. Spring Break 2015 was FINALLY here!

We traveled from Rio de Janeiro to Ilha Grande using Easy Transfer. As the name suggests, it really was easy. They picked us up at our villa and drove us to the dock where we boarded the ferry to Ilha Grande. It was about a 2-3 hour drive and we stopped once on the way there. They did the same for returning us back to Rio de Janeiro from Paraty. It was great to have all our own transportation covered for us (for a flat fee) where we knew we wouldn't be getting ripped off or getting in a car with someone who is not trustworthy. For people who don't speak Portuguese, this is a huge bonus.

Upon arriving in Ilha Grande, we stayed at El Misti Hostel. Apparently El Misti is a chain of hostels throughout South America and plenty of people have stayed in them and loved it. This was not the case with us. The hostel had two locations on the island and we were given a shared room with a shared bathroom in the junkier hostel. Despite the fact that we paid for a private room with a private bathroom. The WiFi didn't work (okay, we were on vacation, no big deal), they didn't give us a key to our room at first (nor were lockers provided), the mattresses were the color of dirt and the sheets didn't stay on the mattresses. The island was awesome, the hostel was not.

While in Ilha Grande, we decided that we would each choose one activity for everyone to do. That way there was no fighting and we were all happy. 

My pick: I had read that Praia Lopes Mendes is one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil., so we had to go. On the day that we arrived, we took a water taxi to the beach and then had to hike for 20 minutes or so before arriving there. Was it beautiful? Absolutely. Would I say that it's one of the best beaches in Brazil? I don't know. It was more like a typical beach in the States with plenty of room to participate in beach activities (sunbathing, soccer, frescoball, etc). But the water was really wavy on the day that we went, so it wasn't great for swimming.

Maggie's pick: On our first full day in Ilha Grande we went on a "meia volta". Which translates to a half island tour. We boarded a speed boat with Prime Tours from Vila do Abraão and from there stopped at 5-6 different beaches. I wish that I could remember them all, but I really cannot. I can tell you that we saw dolphins first thing in the morning on the way to Lagoa Verde, that we saw a starfish that was huge, that we also saw some gross underwater snake/ eel thing, and that I swam with more fish that I had ever thought possible. I also sat on our boat, waved my hand, and a man selling Popsicles on a different boat came alongside ours so that I could purchase what I wanted. Talk about service. I didn't even really want a popsicle at that moment, but I really wanted a Popsicle sold to me off of a boat.

Matt's pick: Sunrise hike up Pico do Papagaio. It was as awful and as awesome as it sounds. We started the hike at 2:30am and proceeded to hike up 980+ km up for a 7.5 hour, 10 mile round trip hike. Throughout which I cried and almost threw up on myself more than once. It was the most physically demanding thing I have ever had to do. But, I did it. We hiked with Martin, from Prime Tours (again), and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. He's an awesome person and an awesome guide.

We rounded out our time in Ilha Grande with some kilo ice cream and a day at the beach in Abraão. And, of course, one last night in our gross, mosquito infested hostel where I'm pretty sure monkeys were doing samba on the roof all night, every night because there is nothing else that could have been making that much racket.

After 2.5 beautiful days in paradise-- we were off to Paraty!

Spring Break Part 2/2: It's Always A Party in Paraty

Part two of our two part Spring Break took us to Paraty, another city within the state of Rio de Janeiro. We'd heard that Ilha Grande was more of a party town and Paraty was more laid-back, and we were anxious to discover them both on our own.

As we did when traveling from Rio de Janeiro, we traveled with Easy Transfer. The driver was friendly and spoke a small amount of English and was able to drop us off directly at our hostel. For us, it was great because we didn't have to worry about taxis or buses or getting stuck somewhere and not being able to get anywhere because we don't speak Portuguese. We just paid a flat fee at the beginning of the trip and all of our transportation was taken care of. Easy. Hence the name. Given the opportunity to do it again though, I would probably use Easy Transfer to get from Rio de Janeiro to Ilha Grande and then Paraty back to Rio. There are many speed boats and tour groups in Ilha Grande that offer transportation to Paraty; traveling that way would only take about an 1 or 2. By using Easy Transfer to get from Ilha Grande to Paraty, we took a boat to the "mainland" and then drove to Paraty; a trip that took about 5 hours in total.

While in Paraty, we stayed at the Geko Hotel and Pousada which I highly recommend. We stayed in a private room with a private bathroom and it was awesome. The service at the hotel was excellent; they helped us book tours (even when we waited until 30 minutes before the tour was supposed to leave), made suggestions about what to do, and offered free caipirinhas upon check-in. The hostel is located right on the beach and also has a little restaurant right on the sand that serves breakfast each morning (included in the price of the room) as well as dinner each night (not included in the price, but still reasonably priced).

Anyways, Paraty. We LOVED the beaches of Ilha Grande, but weren't opposed to seeing other things since we're pretty spoiled with nice beaches every day. I know, life in Rio is rough. Paraty is pretty well known for their cachaça and their waterfalls, so we found a tour that combined the two. It was pretty rainy and chilly (relatively) the day that we went, but it ended up being okay because we were at waterfalls anyways. Throughout the course of the day, we visited two cacharias and 4 or 5 waterfalls. We were able to swim at all the waterfalls, but since it wasn't sunny and I get cold easily, I chose not to. Also, the rain made the waterfalls move a lot more quickly than usually and my sub-par swimming skills weren't really any match for the currents. I didn't feel like I missed out on the day though.

Matt and I Adventurer's Guild-ed our way up a waterfall and then I panicked when I realized that I actually had to climb back down. Typical. Maggie and I also received roses made from palm leaves from a random man on the side of the road, so self-esteem was sky high.

On our second (and final full day) in Paraty, we took another tour to Trindade. Every time that we had mentioned that we were going to Paraty, people has said "Oh it's nice there. You HAVE to go to Trindade." And who are we to argue with the masses?

We started out by going to Praia Brava for some awesome selfie stick opportunities. Praia Brava equals "Rough Beach" and it definitely lived up to it's name. Selfies on the rocks for the win.

Next it was off to the famous Cachadaço Natural Pool. A bunch of rocks formed this natural pool where, allegedly, many varieties of fish and other things live. By the time we arrived, it was crowded and the water was pretty rough-- both of which stirred up the water too much to see anything. As true Adventurers do, we just decided to climb around on the rocks instead.

We took a R$10 lancha ride back to Meio Beach. Let me tell you, it wasn't a great day for maritime travel, but we survived. When we arrived at Meio Beach, we ordered some hot dogs (with peas on them-- why ruin a perfectly good hot dog?) and climbed around on the rock formation that was right on the beach. Which was awesome until the giant waves came up and over the rocks which was 10% terrifying. Awesome picture-- but terrifying.

30cm long pastels and some gelato wrapped up our time in Paraty. As well as a couple more caipirinhas on the beach.

Paraty was lovely. Given the opportunity, there is plenty more that I would have loved to do there. But I think that most things I wanted to do (beaches, stand up paddle boarding, boating, etc) could be done elsewhere.

It's always a party in Paraty, especially when you're on Spring Break.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Lao Tzu

Petrópolis-- The Imperial City of Brazil

We took advantage of our four day weekend in celebration of Easter to visit the nearby city of Petrópolis. Petrópolis, also called the Imperial City, is named for the second monarch of Brazil, Pedro II. And let me tell you, they LOVE that man. Statues of him can be found around every corner and the Imperial Museum is dedicated to sharing his life story.

The day began by journeying to the central bus station in Rio called Rodoviária in order to catch a bus up to Petrópolis. Again I was reminded of how much the countryside of Brazil looks like the mountains of Honduras. I could have been driving to Petrópolis or I could have been driving to Comayagua. 

Upon arriving in Petrópolis, we visited the Museu de Cera, also known as the Wax Museum. Wax museums creep me out. It would be so easy for one of those wax people to be a real human being and that terrifies me. These are terrible realizations to have when you halfway into the museum and have paid about $7 to be there. We studied with Einstein, we jammed with Michael Jackson, we felt way more calm when we stepped back outside at the end.

Hangriness sets in for the gringos and we dine at a kilo restaurant overlooking the central park in Petrópolis. Uneventful, but delicious nonetheless. Three hangry gringos walked in, three happy gringos walked out.

Petrópolis is a GORGEOUS city. The architecture there is still as grand as it was in the 1800's and many of the streets are still cobblestone. While walking down the street, we passed houses belonging to barons and counts as well as the summer home for many of the Brazilian presidents. At the end of said street sits the St. Peter of Alcantara Cathedral which is where Pedro the II, his wife, his daughter, and her husband are all buried. Creepy, but true.

After visiting the cathedral, Maggie, Matt, and I decided that no trip to Petrópolis would be complete without a horse-drawn carriage ride. Our driver was very knowledgeable, but also very conscious of the fact that we speak very little Portuguese. He gave us just enough information for us to know what was going on without it being overwhelming. He drove us past the cathedral, the houses of the royals, the Bohemia beer brewery, and the Crystal Palace before taking us back to the Imperial Palace. Five stars for the horse drawn carriage ride.

We'd been seeing signs for the chocolate festival at the Crystal Palace and weren't about to pass that up. Reality rarely compares to expectations, but we were able to buy some chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, and alfajores which is dulce de leite or brigadeiro sandwiched between two cookies (think soft Oreos) and sometimes covered in chocolate. What the chocolate festival lacked in...whatever it was that we were expecting, it more than made up for in delectable chocolate treats.

Oh, did I mention that the lawns were filled with recycled two liter bottles fashioned into Easter baskets and bunnies? Because that was a thing.

We wrapped up our day in the Imperial City with a tour of the Imperial Museum where we got to wear the most attractive little slippers that I have ever seen in my life. Allegedly the slippers are required because the museum wants to protect the integrity of the original floors and streets shoes can compromise that. Fair, but I have NEVER seen so many adults ice skating around in my life.

We watched a presentation where ladies pretended to be Princess Isabel and her friends and we got a glimpse of a typical royal ladies day. The crowd really seemed to enjoy it, I assume I would have enjoyed it more if I spoke more Portuguese. Finally we watched a sounds and lights presentation on Pedro the II's life. I told you, they love that man.

And all of that wrapped up our day in Petrópolis. Our 9 mile, 20,000 step day in Petrópolis. 

I'm So Rio, You Don't Even Know.

carioca 

noun | ca-ri-o-ca | \ˌka-rē-ˈō-kə\

a native or resident of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

As a current resident of Rio de Janeiro, there are many things that are becoming commonplace. Beaches. Carnaval. Caipirinhas. Public transportation. Juice from corner bars. Selfie sticks.

Coconut water from an actual coconut? So Rio. Bonus points if you're on the beach.

Pull-ups (or push-ups or any other sort of workout) in public? So Rio. Bonus points if you're really sweaty.

Watching the sunset at Ipanema? So Rio. Bonus points if you have a canga. Double bonus points if you clap when the sun finally sets.

Shamelessly owning a selfie stick? So Rio. Bonus points if you take it in the ocean.

Being tourist-y at iconic locations such as the Sugarloaf? So Rio. Bonus points if you go early to stake out a spot to watch the sunset.

I think I could get used to this Rio thing...

The Time I Stood On A Train In Rio And Announced That I Didn't Like Soccer.

Due to the 2014 World Cup, there are very few people who haven't heard of Maracanã. They may or may not know it by name, but perhaps they know that it is where the final match was held. The winning goal was scored by Germany in this very stadium.

And I went there. I went into the locker room. I stood on the field.

Our tour included seeing the press box, the VIP seating, and rooms available for parties (25th birthday celebration, perhaps?), the locker room, and then going out onto the field. All for the low price of $20. If you happen to find yourself in Rio, I highly recommend checking it out--Maracanã Official Site.

The goal in which the winning goal was scored

The tour was cool, don't get me wrong. But it was no baseball stadium. Had it been, say, Jacobs Field, there many have been actual tears running down my face. Even to me, it elicited feelings of awe and amazement.

A feeling which I expressed, loudly, to Caitlin while we were riding the subway home.

Caitlin: "That was SO cool!"
Me: "I know! I don't even like soccer and I thought it was awesome!"
...crickets chriping...
Caitlin: "Maybe you don't want to shout that on a crowded subway in Rio de Janeiro."

The struggle to filter the things that I say is real, folks.

Beach Body Ready.

There are many unwritten rules that one needs to be aware of when living in Rio de Janeiro. Including, but not limited to:

-- one Chopp is never enough

-- always wear your bathing suit under your clothes (or have one with you) because you never know when you'll end up at the beach

-- be wary of eating the shrimp on the beach

-- never pass a churro stand without stopping (this may be my own personal rule)

Perhaps the biggest rule, though, would be how to have a beach body.

Two simple steps. That's all. 

Please let this phenomenon catch on around the world.

I'm BAAAAACK!

After four long, wonderful weeks in the States I have returned to Siguatepeque for another year of adventures with my friends and with my students. Before the classroom gets set up and the students come, my sister and I spent one week raging around like fools and enjoying the Central American sun.

Flight from Atlanta to San Pedro.

Sarah's first baleadas.

Girl time with Miss Grace

My sister is my best friend.

Comayagua <3

Water Island. Whaaaat?

My sister is my best friend. Sigua is my favorite place in Honduras. Put them together and it was an unforgettable week with the two great loves of my life.